IRL
by DynamiteKitty
Summary: Set six years after the Alicization Arc (S2), Kirito and Asuna have just graduated college and are finally free to live their lives together. Whilst apart of their lives will always be online, the two are approaching a new venture together as they open cafe! Meanwhile, Kirito is determined to develop VR technology further. Mainly AsunaxKirito pairing, rated M for future plot.
1. Chapter 1

Hi! So I'm pretty new to actually using this site for publishing a story, but I've been writing and reading for years. As a result, this is my first official fanfic! I love Asuna and Kirito so much that I had to write about them, so hopefully this'll go somewhere, keep you all entertained and full-fill other peoples needs for this adorable couple! Rated M for mature content intended later on, asides from fluff and possible lemon, their will eventually be a little drama in this fic. Enjoy :)

 **...**

On a little side street in the center of Tokyo, a young couple stood just off the road by a large van as they held hands and looked up to a quaint little shop front. There wasn't much to this little shop; it'd been empty for several months, it had no signs and the paint had been stripped off the woodwork on the front. It was a neglected little store – a store with so much potential with the right owner.

A hand squeezed the other between the young couple, Asuna looked up to Kirito.

''There's a lot of work to do,'' Kirito declared.

Asuna beamed, ''just think of it like a sandbox. We can do anything to it.''

''As long as it's café themed,'' Kirito rolled his eyes mockingly.

The chestnut haired woman had decided that it would be a café, no quarrels about it when they had sat down and discussed about getting a place of their own in the last term of college. Asuna had wanted to keep busy, Kitrio already had work and plans set up, so it seemed when the idea of a café had sprung into her mind, it was perfect.

It wasn't quite everything that Agil had at the Dicey Café on the other side of town; for a start their new venture was smaller and they didn't intend to get a license for alcohol. Most of all, Asuna proposed to provide baked goods and sandwiches, freshly made in the morning, which had spurred Kirito's attention enough to agree.

''We still haven't decided on a name yet…'' Asuna's smile faded, her spare hand floating up to rest just under her lips. The black haired man tugged her hand one more time before he rummaged around in his pockets, emerging with two sets of keys. He handed the smaller pair to his beloved before assuring himself the van was locked.

The young woman galloped up to the store door, waiting for her Kirito to come open the door with her.

''I can't wait to show Yui,'' She squealed in excitement, as Kirito placed a hand gently on her lower back. Slowly, she fidgeted the key into the door and a _click_ was distinct as the door popped back slightly.

''I'll set up the BDC once we set up the router, okay?'' Kirito agreed.

The first step inside lead to a pause between the couple, the chestnut haired girl racing in and suddenly stopping, hands clasped over her chest. It was just all too overwhelming for her; never had she thought six years ago she would have found herself in this dream, doing exactly as she wished. She'd kept her promise to her mother; she'd studied well enough at the SAO School in order to get into college – especially in a tech degree with Kirito – and she'd kept all her promises to the man she loved too.

A hand gently glided down her back, before pulling her at the hip into the lean physic of the very man she was daydreaming on. Kirito held his love close, other hand to his hip and proud. He was making his Asuna happy which was a priority even greater than his VR projects.

The two examined the shop floor all over again, despite only being here a little over a week ago. There was already a deli counter installed, at some point a previous owner had given a hack at providing some sort of goods business and it had given them the perfect floor space left for furniture to make it into a café. A doorway was at the very back of the room, distinctly lacking a door and instead replaced with colourful blue and green ribbons that dangled from the top of the frame.

''Do you want to check that everything was moved out of the backroom before we start bringing stuff in?'' Kirito asked with encouragement.

When he looked down onto Asuna on the other hand, his thought had been completely derailed. The young woman stood in a slight mess, weeping despite smiling away.

Kirito's hand stroked against her cheek, snapping her attention back, ''what's wrong?''

''N-Nothing!'' Asuna replied, shaking the tears away, ''I'm just happy.''

''Come on,'' Kirito laughed, ''We'll make sure we've got space first. The sooner we get things set up the sooner Yui can see too.''

The two passed through the ribbons into the backroom, Asuna delicately moving them aside whilst Kirito charged through. The floor space out front took most of the building up, but out back their was just enough room to store stuff and maybe install a dishwasher and a little cooker as Asuna had suggested when they first visited. To the right hand side was a small staircase into the upstairs flat. Most of all, there was enough room in the corner to install a small work area for Kirito. Whilst there was the upstairs flat, he wanted somewhere to work away from as many distractions as possible and as close to Asuna's work as possible. This way at least he could come help out if they ever got overloaded with work; it shouldn't be too bad if Sugu was about to help a little in the summer.

''Are you sure there'll be enough space for you?'' Asuna asked, turning to Kirito just as he went to grab her.

For a moment she was startled as his hands placed firmly on her shoulders. He nodded a response and beamed as his head leaned forward, pressing his nose lightly against hers.

''Are you happy?'' He asked, tone low and tempting.

Asuna blushed and sprung her arms around him, ''of course I am Kirito!''

Before she could hide face in the crook of his neck, Kirito quickly caught her lips and their kiss deepened for a brief moment before the two pulled away.

''Should we go unload the van?''

 **...**

''I can see now daddy!'' Yui called from the BDC.

Kirito leant around the steadicam on Asuna's shoulder, brushing back her hair, ''are you sure Yui? The connections not that great here yet…''

''I'm sure daddy! I can see the a darkish room with lots and lots of boxes!'' Yui called through the speaker again.

''Great!'' Asuna beamed, ''we can show you our new home now!''

Asuna, yanking Kirito by the arm, raced out into the front of the shop, showing Yui the space and great bay windows that let so much light in.

''This'll be the café Yui, but there isn't much here yet,'' the young woman explained.

''Hopefully lots and lots of people will come here to try Mammy's great cooking,'' Kirito piped in, hidden between the ribbon in the doorframe.

''But where will you sleep Mammy?'' Yui asked as Asuna turned towards her loved.

The young man smiled as he stepped into the back room, holding back the ribbon as Asuna raced through, showing off the staircase, ''see, our home is upstairs!''

As the couple slowly made their way upstairs, they pushed the door to at the top of the landing, revealing a large kitchen – living area. Unlike the downstairs, this did come furnished. There was already a cooker, fridge and kitchen unit on the right hand side, a low cut table in the center of the room and a sofa against the opposite wall. The whole room was filled with pastel type colours and felt warm and light despite their being no window.

''Wow!'' Yui called through the BDC, ''it's so big!''

Asuna dashed to the other side of the room, hand to handle of a door, ''and this mine and Daddy's bedroom!''

The door swung open on her demand, revealing a semi furnished room with basic double bed frame and a wardrobe in the far corner. One large, great window sat on the wall opposite the door and allowed light to fill the very basic room that Asuna and Kirito intended to make as homely as possible.

''What do you think Yui?'' Kirito asked as he slinked up behind his love, wrapping his arm around her shoulder; of course minding the BDC rig.

''I think it's great!'' Yui exclaimed.

''In a couple of days, we'll be all unpacked too, it'll look way more homey when you see it then,'' Asuna cooed, getting herself excited to set up their new home.

''And,'' Kirito piped up, ''hopefully I'll be able to get you're new rig working in the backroom and up here.''

Of course, he was talking about his new bidirectional communication system for Yui. It wasn't enough for her to just see and hear the real world; he wanted desperately for her to move about at free will, touch, taste and smell, wake to all the sensations and finally be in the real world.

''I look forward to it daddy!'' Yui chimed.

''Well we're going to shut down the BDC for a bit whilst we unpack if that's okay?'' Kirito asked.

Asuna turned so that Yui may face her daddy.

''That's fine with me. I love you mammy, I love you daddy,'' Yui sounded.

''We love you to Yui,'' Asuna shone.

''And you too Yui,'' Kirito spoke gently as he maneuvered the BDC rig from Asuna, so that Yui could at least see her mammy waving before the mains turned off.

''Time to get to work then,'' the young woman said to her love as he fiddled with the rig in his hand. He looked up and smiled, almost grinning at the thought of setting up their home for his two women.

''I love you Asuna,'' he said softly.

Asuna blushed and beamed, ''I love you too Kirito!''


	2. Chapter 2

Hi, back again! So my updates are kind of regular at the moment due to being off university but this will change shortly I'm afraid. The chapters are a bit short at the moment as the initial set up is approached before the actual story arc beings, but I'm hoping you are all enjoying it so far! Hopefully I'll grow the courage to write some more fluff (if that's the right term?) soon.

 **...**

Work on the café had become a quick paced rush for the young couple. In the first day, they'd unpacked everything in their apartment and Asuna had adorned their bed in a lovely duck feather quilt, fairy lights that hung around the headboard and towards a shared desk against the wall. The living area had been littered with comfortable cushions and pillows between the sofa and the floor beside the dining table; pictures had been hung and put out on display of the couple together and some of all their friends. She'd made it quite the home, whilst Kirito had begun to unpack downstairs between moving heavy objects up into the apartment. He was determined to get his workshop set up more or less in the same day, though it was seeming far from it when Asuna had raced downstairs to announce dinner.

By the end of the week it was a completely different story, finally the young technician had found time to set up a mini-pod projector in the apartment upstairs in both the living room despite some development work that was desperate for a look over before the end of the month.

Kirito stood atop a ladder, gingerly screwing in the final mount as Asuna held the legs in place to stop him from toppling over.

''Is it going to work this time?'' Asuna asked, watching the concentration on her Kirito's face.

The man wiped back the black locks from his steely eyes as he turned the mount on, ''it should do, there's plenty of space and there's not enough light to cancel out the projection…''

Climbing down, Kirito was glad to meet the aiding hand of his beloved as she eagerly pulled him across to his laptop that had been abandoned on the dining table. She pushed him down to the floor and toppled over him as he got to work running software and router authorities. As the systems booted up, his hand slowly met the long, auburn locks draped all around him and gently begun to stroke through them in anxiety and excitement. Asuna gleamed, knowing all to well he was getting worked up for nothing. She knew he'd fixed it this time. It would work.

 _Beep_ , the mount sounded from across the room. The two craned their heads as a light gradually turned on in the back of the mini projector and gently began to grow. Their hands met, gripping each other as a form began to take shape in the beam that was being projected just at the end of the table.

Slowly, the ray took shape, growing longer, yet slimmer. Colour began to flood into it, a sheer sheet of black growing from the top and almost to the bottom. A nude pink dress turned from the air, taking shape against the body of a child. Gradually, Yui was coming to life as a projection within their home, sitting at the end of the table like any ordinary girl.

''Mammy, daddy!'' She called as she was filtered into the real world.

Asuna burst forward, rushing off of Kirito, ''Yui!'' she called.

When the two brushed, the woman had completely forgotten she was merely a projection, her hand falling straight through the child and distorting the sight. Tears had already rushed to her eyes out of sheer joy, yet heartache filled her face despite her best efforts. Yui wasn't real. Not yet.

''Its okay mammy,'' Yui glowed, her palm 'placed' against her mothers, ''we can pretend. Just like this, see?''

Asuna nodded, squinting hard to relinquish the tears that where breaming at her eyes. Yui raised her arms up and Asuna gently leant into their hug. Even though it wasn't real, she could feel Yui's touch, _feel_ her spirit somewhere in the virtual world.

Kirito smiled warmly, ''is everything working okay Yui?''

The girl nodded, standing up out of her mothers hold and twirling around the room. The projection held up well, the light highlighting all the correct parts, her hair shimmering and the nude pinks in her dress glinting at her dance; her shadow cast onto the floor and her appearance was almost unbelievable.

''It works so well daddy, you're really smart!'' She complimented as she twirled again.

''It'll only get better,'' Kirito grinned in determination, his look very similar to the day they had moved in. Making his two girls happy brought about pride for him, it was what made him pleased and content. If all his work paid off developing VR technology in order to bring Yui into the real world, so they could finally live as a real family - so Asuna would always smile - it would all be worth it.

Yui twirled again and danced around the room for them over and over again until she grew tired and managed to rest herself between her parents.

Kirito smiled to his loved over the girl, and Asuna, still teary, almost chocked back. She was overwhelmed, but joyful. It was the perfect way to end their first week.

 **...**

Come Monday, the delivery of all the furniture for the café began to arrive as workman carried sofas, lounge chairs and tables into the store. Asuna instructed them carefully and even rewarded them with a deli sandwich she'd prepared – having wanted to try a new recipe whilst she waited for their arrival – for all their hard work. It was really beginning to look like a real café by the time they had left. There was only one thing missing.

Kirito almost jumped at the sound of a horn outside of their store. Looking around his workstation in the dark backroom, he slowly got up and put his computer to sleep.

''Asuna?'' He called, popping his head through the ribbons.

The shop floor was empty, but through the front windows the auburn mane of the one he sought called to him.

Outside, Asuna was instructing a crew of two young men on where about she wanted the sign placing. There was already framework above the window and door, so it seemed an easy task and the two got to it, pulling the new, freshly painted sign from the back of their truck.

Whilst ladders were getting set up at either side, Kirito cautiously stepped outside, curious as to what was happening.

''What's going on?'' He asked.

Asuna giggled, ''well, it was meant to be a surprise…''

Kirito placed his hands in his pockets, rocking back on his heels as he inspected the crew, ''I thought we didn't decide on a sign yet?''

The young woman blushed, ''I kind of made that decision a few months ago…''

The two workmen carried the plank sign up between them on their ladders; at the top they pushed it up against the framework so it could be bolted on. It was a great, colourful sign – much against Kirito's black ethic – with the name: **_The Ruby Palace_**.

Kirito scowled at Asuna.

''Hey, because of you mister we never got to go there, and we still haven't made it to the last floor after all these years! So The Ruby Palace can live on, until we finally get there,'' she explained herself, pleased with her decision. Kirito's reaction was cute.

''Fine,'' he sighed. ''The others are going to _love_ this.''

''Oh come on, you don't even like it a little bit?'' She asked, coming up beside him and looping her arm around his, even if his hands were grounded in his pockets. The two looked up to the sign together, their thoughts lost in Aincrad. Neither of them had been online in a while, and the idea of reaching the next level or simply exploring Alfheim was rather tempting at the moment.

''I guess it's kind of unique,'' Kirito finally admitted.

Asuna tugged on his arm, success!


End file.
